Caged
by little-n-lost
Summary: Something strange has moved into the Pride Lands... and Timon is directly in its path.
1. Something in the distance

Hello everyone! I'm ba-ack! I had to write another fiction because you guys are just too great. *Grin*. Oh, and I wanted to torture poor Timon and Pumbaa some more. Anywho, onto the disclaimer we all love so much:  
  
Disclaimer: They ain't mine.  
  
Caged  
  
The sun made the earth tremble in the distance, the pride lands swaying in the blistering heat of the mid morning wake. The small gray bird poked its head up and gazed around him, unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched. After a moment, he felt he was just being paranoid and dipped his head back into the hole for more bugs.  
  
A short distance away, a predator crouched in the grass, just the points of his shoulder blades and large, unblinking eyes visible. He steadied himself and held his breath, staring intensely at the oblivious bird. He narrowed his eyes, drew back and lunged from his position.  
  
The bird looked up in alarm, turning his head to see the predator fast approaching. His eyes went large, but it was too late...  
  
WHACK!  
  
The bird merely blinked when the meerkat ran into him, Timon falling back onto his rear with a thump. Wrinkling his nose, he looked up at the gray pest, disappointed that his plan to scare him away had failed once again.  
  
"You are undefeatable, aren't you?" Timon griped.  
  
The bird just cocked his head to the side, before returning his beak to the hole. Timon just frowned at him.  
  
"Y'know, you're eating my buffet," Timon tried, slowly getting up from the ground and dusting himself off. The bird went on eating. Timon tossed his arms over his chest and tapped his toe, his mouth twisted to the side as he watched the bird continue with his feasting.  
  
"I'm counting to three and then things will really get ugly."  
  
Still nothing.  
  
Timon cleared his throat and lifted a hand out, using his fingers as he counted, "One... two..."  
  
Just then, the bird shot his head up and looked off to the distance in alarm. Bending his knees, he launched himself into the air and flew away.  
  
"Ah ha!" Timon cheered, watching him go. "I sure scared him!"  
  
Timon froze, his ears perking when he heard it. It was a rumbling noise he had never heard before. Turning to where the bird had looked seconds ago, Timon gasped when he spotted something very large headed his way. It was square-looking, moving on four large, round boulders. It was twice the size of a lion and faster than a cheetah, and it was aimed straight at him.  
  
"Yipe!" Timon yelped, diving onto the ground and covering his head.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Note: Those who are interested, I did a little drawing... You can find my art page link on my bio. 


	2. Trouble

The ground shook as the 'thing' rolled right over him, casting the earth around him in shadow. Opening one eye slowly, Timon looked up to the belly of the square-like creature that now hovered over him and stared confused at the vines that seemed to course in and out all over. The loud rumbling it was making suddenly stopped and it felt like Timon's ears were ringing with the silence it had left.  
  
Timon slowly climbed up from the ground, realizing that the thing wasn't going to do anything to him. He walked over to one of the four round boulders it sat on, it more than twice his size, and touched it. It felt like an elephant hide, only it was black and had ridges on it. Timon crooked an eyebrow in confusion, wondering what this new thing was.  
  
Suddenly, the thing shifted and Timon gasped in surprise, diving behind the round, rubber thing. A large foot came down right next to him, the dirt crunching underneath its rubber soles, and Timon's breath quickened in fear when he heard them say something in a tongue he had never heard before.  
  
Timon's wide eyes watched as the foot lowered to a knee and then a large face peered underneath. It was like something he had never seen before. It reminded him of Rafiki, only its entire face was pink and it had a patch of brown hair on top of its head. Scared by this, Timon gasped and bolted out from underneath the square thing, running as fast as he could across the sand.  
  
Up ahead, he saw Pumbaa, who was trotting his way in alarm. "Timon, what is that?"  
  
"Pumbaa! Run!" Timon shouted.  
  
Just then, he heard a hiss and a pop, and Pumbaa snorted in surprise. Timon slowed his running a little when he watched, shocked, as his friend wobbled and then collapsed onto the ground.  
  
"Pumbaa?" Timon whispered. He approached his friend and stopped beside him, reaching out hesitantly and touching the warthog with his paw. "Pumbaa? Are you...?"  
  
Just then, he heard something behind him and he whipped around to see the tall and lean form of the creature. It loomed over him, blocking the sunlight and hindering Timon's ability to see its face. In fear, Timon shrunk back, but refused to run away from his friend. He had to protect him... somehow.  
  
The large creature leaned down, and Timon dropped to all four and growled as best as he could. The attempt was pathetic, Timon knew, for the bony stranger just cocked its head to the side and stared at him. Timon's eyes darted away as he saw another one approaching, this one shorter and had longer hair. It said something to the first in a higher voice, gesturing to a stick with what looked like a thick spider web at the end of it. It held it up to the taller creature and the other took it.  
  
Timon's eyes widened, but he had no time to move. The creature brought the stick down and caught Timon with the web-like fibers. He struggled, realizing that it was too strong to rip and the holes were too small to crawl through. His efforts were no use, and he felt himself being lifted up from the ground in it, held up to the two faces peering at him. Timon gasped and drew back, staring fearfully back.  
  
Oh yeah, he was in trouble now... 


	3. Awaken

He couldn't remember what had happened after they had picked him up in the Pride Lands, but the next thing he knew, he was trying to open his eyelids that were heavy as stones. His head hurt and his muscles were uncooperative. He blinked a few times, trying to get his vision to clear, when he realized his face was pressed into wood chips. Wrinkling his nose at the musty smell that invaded his nostrils, he tried to get his heavy body to sit up. It took a few tries, but he finally managed, and groggily looked around.  
  
There were thick bars that surrounded him, enclosing him in this box-like trap that was layered in the dusty chips. In the corner of the cage was a bowl of brown pellets, and in the other, a slowly dripping tube filled with, what looked like, water.  
  
Timon stood on wobbly knees and walked to the bars, wrapping his paws around them. Outside his barricades, he found he was in a large, similar entrapment, only this one was cloth-like. Objects were scattered about, odd looking things that were made of materials he had never seen before. He was elevated up onto a large and flat slab, and he pressed his forehead against the bars as tightly as possible to see the ground below.  
  
Yup, he was high up.  
  
"Hi."  
  
The voice startled him and Timon whipped around, finding a cage just like his sitting right next to him. There stood a lean creature, his size and all gray, with large brown eyes staring curiously at him. She looked like a mongoose or something, yet he had never seen one looking like her before.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked, craning her head to the side.  
  
Timon swallowed against his dry mouth, willing his vocal cords to work as he replied, "I'm... I'm Timon."  
  
The girl grinned, a smile that was both innocent and unnerving. "That's a great name, Timon."  
  
Timon just blinked at the odd creature, before he said, "Where am I?"  
  
"I'm Chelsea," the girl went on, ignoring his question. She stared at him for a moment, then wrinkled her nose, looking awfully confused. "You're a strange-looking ferret."  
  
Timon looked down at himself briefly, trying to see what she was seeing. He wasn't the one that looked strange; she was... and what the heck was a ferret?  
  
"I'm not a... ah, ferret," Timon answered. "I'm a meerkat." Slowly, he made his way to her, grasping the bars that separated them. "Where am I? Who... what are they?"  
  
Chelsea grinned again. "They're humans," she replied.  
  
Timon's eyes widened and he leaned back in surprise. "Humans?" he exclaimed. "I thought that they were only myth!"  
  
She giggled and shook her head. "Nope."  
  
Timon, however, saw nothing humorous about the situation. "Humans..." he whispered, rolling the word around in his head. His eyes suddenly welled up with emotion and he blurted, angrily, "Those humans killed my best friend!"  
  
"Your friend?" she repeated, her brow furrowed.  
  
Timon dropped his hands from the bars and took a step back, sniffing. He felt sick to his stomach. "He was a warthog... he was my best friend."  
  
"A warthog? A big pig-like thing?"  
  
Timon looked up at her sharply and nodded.  
  
"Is that him?" she asked, pointing to her right.  
  
Timon whipped around and nearly tripped over himself as he reached the side of the cage. Sure enough, on the ground, sat a large cage with his friend captive inside. He was lying down, his back toward him, and Timon frowned worriedly. "Is he... dead?"  
  
"I don't know," Chelsea answered, coming up to the side of her cage as well. "He hasn't moved since they brought him in."  
  
Timon swallowed and gripped the bars, praying his friend was okay. He just hoped they could get out of this... somehow... 


	4. Humans are powerful

"What do they want with me?" Timon asked carefully, looking away from his friend to the ferret in the cage beside him. "Where am I? How did I get here?"  
  
"Which one do you want me to answer first?" she asked, crooking an eyebrow. "You ask a lot of questions."  
  
Timon's eyes narrowed a little and he took a step towards her. "Just pick one."  
  
She took a breath and then rattled, "I don't know what they want with you, I am not really sure where we are, and I didn't see how they brought you in."  
  
Timon stared at her, miserably. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it—what was the use anyway? He ambled over to the corner of his imprisonment and sat in the wood chips with a loud sigh.  
  
"Maybe they want you as a pet," she replied.  
  
Timon looked over at her, furrowing his brow.  
  
She gave a small shrug, slowly walking down her cage to stand closer to the corner in which he sat. She gripped the bars and pressed her face in between them, continuing, "We are in a tent in a really hot place. I don't know where... But I know we are in a tent. And when I first noticed you in the cage next to me, you were asleep. They must have poked you."  
  
Timon was confused beyond belief. A pet? What was a pet? And what was a tent? Poked him? Timon's mouth opened and closed several times, debating what question to ask first. He finally went with, "What do you mean, they poked me?"  
  
The ferret shrugged again. "The humans have a pointy thing. When they poke something with it, it goes to sleep."  
  
With a bunched brow, Timon stared at her, wondering what kind of powers these humans possessed. With a quick intake of breath, Timon blurted, "Well I have some very powerful friends! They will come looking for us!"  
  
"Humans are powerful too."  
  
He looked away from her when he heard something, his eyes widening when one of the 'humans' appeared through a hole in the 'tent.' It was the one with the long hair, the one that was female. She immediately went for Pumbaa's cage, bending down to look at him. Timon leaped to his feet and ran for the side of the cage, watching like a hawk as she inspected the unmoving warthog.  
  
Just then, the other human entered and the girl looked up at him, saying something that Timon couldn't understand. Questionably, Timon shot the ferret beside him a look, who was now standing where she could watch as well.  
  
"What are they saying?" Timon asked her.  
  
She blinked at him and then wrinkled her nose. "Are you kidding? I don't speak human."  
  
Timon growled in frustration, turning his head back to watch eagerly as the girl human reached down and opened the door to Pumbaa's cage. Clenching his teeth together, Timon felt his heart sink as she touched him on his back and he didn't respond. Again, she turned to her companion and said something else, her face looking worried.  
  
"Is he dead?" Timon asked again, shooting Chelsea a scared look.  
  
She just gazed back at him with the same look, unable to answer his question. 


	5. Is he alive?

Note: I find it funny that there are a few recent writers with the same name. I am a Kari too. Alright, enough with my stupidity, and on with the story!  
  
Timon gritted his teeth and reached through the bars, pushing at the lever that kept the door closed. He jiggled it, but it would not budge. Sighing and pulling his arm back inside the cage, Timon watched with a frown as the girl stood up from Pumbaa's cage and left with the other human. Again, they were alone, and Timon shot a look at the ferret in the cage next to him.  
  
"I need to get to him."  
  
Chelsea gave Pumbaa a quick look, before turning back to Timon. "Good luck trying to get that door open."  
  
Timon sighed and wandered over to the bowl in the corner, gazing down at the brown pellets miserably. He was hungry—but not THAT hungry. "I can't stay in here. I have to get out... Pumbaa too."  
  
"If he's alive," she muttered.  
  
Looking up, Timon glared at her. "Thanks for reminding me of that."  
  
"Touchy," she snorted, rolling her eyes. She leisurely strolled through her cage, adding, "Well if it helps any... that WAS my old cage..." She stopped and jerked her head toward the far upper corner of the cage, and Timon turned his head to look at what she was gesturing to. "The gap between the bars is bigger there. I used to squeeze out all the time before they put me in this cage."  
  
Timon furrowed his brow and gave the funny girl a look, mumbling, "You could have told me earlier."  
  
"You didn't ask, I didn't tell."  
  
Timon put his hands on his hips and shook a finger at her. "There's something funny about you." After her small shrug, Timon turned and went for the corner. He gripped the bars and started his ascend up the wall carefully. Once he reached the corner, he poked his head through with a little difficultly, looped his arms in and then pushed his lean body through the rest of the way.  
  
"Pays be limber, don't it?" he heard her say.  
  
Timon just rolled his eyes and climbed down on the other side, planting his feet firmly on the wooden slab their cages sat on. Now... to get to the ground. Timon gulped as he leaned over the edge, staring down at the large leap.  
  
"Just do it," Chelsea cheered, with a large ridiculous smile.  
  
"You're enjoying this too much," Timon griped. Carefully, he got down on his knees and turned himself around, shimmying his backside off the table so he dangled there. Silently counting to three, he let go and let himself fall the rest of the way. He landed with a loud 'oof' and a puff of dirt.  
  
"Woo hoo!" Chelsea hollered from up top, clapping. "Do it again!"  
  
Ignoring her, Timon got up and brushed himself off, quickly trotting over to his friend's cage. The bars to Pumbaa's cage were much larger than his and he easily squeezed through, circling around the warthog to face him.  
  
"Pumbaa?" Timon asked, putting a paw on his friend's snout. "Pumbaa, are you okay?"  
  
He was rewarded with a low groan and Timon's face lit with a smile. Running around him, he cupped his mouth and shouted to Chelsea, "He's breathing!"  
  
"Great!" she grinned, clutching the bars to her cage. She frowned a moment, then added, "That's good, right?"  
  
Timon furrowed his brow at her, but didn't say anything, returning to his friend's aid. He placed his paw on Pumbaa's hoof and shook it a little, urging, "C'mon, you gotta wake up, buddy."  
  
"Timon?" Pumbaa asked groggily.  
  
"Yeah, Pumbaa, it's me."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I'm not entirely sure. My source tells me we have been caught by humans. But, the source ain't so reliable." Timon swirled a finger around his temple, adding, "I think captivity has made her a little wacky."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Never mind," Timon clipped. "C'mon, I need you to get up."  
  
"Um, hello?" Chelsea called.  
  
Timon froze and ran around Pumbaa, looking at her in question. "What is it?"  
  
Chelsea pointed toward the entrance of the tent, her eyes wide and her mouth pursed into a straight line. Timon's eyes darted to the opening and watching fearfully as the male human entered, looking straight at him.  
  
"Uh oh," Timon whispered. 


	6. Make a break for it!

"Pumbaa," Timon whispered urgently, coming around to his friend's side. "Do you think you can get up?"  
  
"I... I might be able to..." the warthog replied groggily.  
  
Timon frowned at him for a moment, before he looked up and watched as the human approached. Gulping, Timon dropped his gaze to his friend's and said, "I want you to jump up when I tell you to. Can you do that?"  
  
Pumbaa took a breath and nodded.  
  
"Okay," Timon replied, hunching down a little.  
  
The human furrowed his brow, looking confused as to how the meerkat had gotten out his cage and into the warthog's. He bent down and reached for the latch on the door, cautiously opening it to retrieve the stole-away meerkat.  
  
"Now!" Timon shouted and Pumbaa sprang to his feet with impressive force, throwing the door open and knocking the human to his rear.  
  
"Yay!" Chelsea cheered.  
  
Timon leaped onto Pumbaa's back and together, they hurdled over the fallen human, heading straight for their only exit. But, just as they reached the opening, the female stepped in and Pumbaa rammed right into her legs. Pumbaa bounced back, hitting the dirt and sending Timon tumbling off his back.  
  
The girl shouted in alarm at having the warthog lose, but wasted only a second before she reached down and tried to grab at the animal. Pumbaa snorted in surprise and quickly evaded her grasp, darting backward to the other side of the tent.  
  
Timon lifted his head up from the ground, but was too fazed to move when he saw a hand come down on him. He let out a surprised yelp when he was picked up by the back of his neck, the grasp seeming to paralyze him as he was lifted to the man's sneering face.  
  
"Timon!" Pumbaa exclaimed after looking desperately around.  
  
"Run Pumbaa!" Timon shouted, withering in the human's painful grip. "Make a break for it!"  
  
Pumbaa's face dropped for a moment, unable to move from his planted spot in the corner. But, with a low snort and his ears pinned to his head, Pumbaa shot off toward the pair of monsters and collided with the man's knees so hard it sent both he and the warthog through the opening. The man fell to the ground, but still managed to keep his hold on the poor meerkat. Timon hissed when he was whipped around, the skin on his neck surging like fire.  
  
"Let him go!" Pumbaa cried, climbing up off the ground and running at the man again. His tusks hit him good in the side and the human howled, dropping Timon onto the ground with a thud.  
  
Timon groaned and rubbed the back of his neck, but he had no time to recover before he was being scooped up by his friend's snout and carried away.  
  
"Wait! Wait!" Timon said, turning his head to look back at the tent. "We have to go back and get Chelsea."  
  
"Who?" Pumbaa asked, slowing a little and shooting the tent a look.  
  
"She's a ferret. She was in a cage next to me."  
  
"Oh, Timon," Pumbaa wined, frowning. "I don't want to go back there."  
  
"We'll come back at night," Timon replied, looking down at his friend. "We have to try, Pumbaa."  
  
"I know," Pumbaa sighed, turning and trotting away. 


	7. The Rescue

They crept in as quietly as possible, listening carefully to the rhythm of their snoring as they slept in bags on the floor. Pumbaa stepped over them carefully, gritting his teeth as he made his way toward the table. Timon was sitting crouched in the nest of the warthog's hair, his wide eyes watching the slumbering strangers on the floor.  
  
"Almost there," Pumbaa whispered. Carefully, he rose his snout up and Timon bounded up it and onto the table. Tiptoeing over to the cage, Timon peered inside to the curled body in the corner.  
  
"Psst, Chelsea," Timon whispered.  
  
She jerked awake and lifted her head, blinking groggily at the meerkat peering at her. "Who is it?" she grumbled.  
  
Timon furrowed his brow, irritated. "It is me!" he hissed. "Timon!"  
  
"Oh, hi," she replied, lowering her head back down.  
  
"No! Wait," he whispered, circling around the cage to get closer to the corner she was at. "You have to get up. We are here to rescue you."  
  
"Rescue me?" she repeated, looking up at him.  
  
"Yeah, you know... get out of here? Make like a tree and leave?"  
  
"Why would I want to leave?" she asked with a bunched brow.  
  
"Because... you don't want to be in a cage forever, do you?"  
  
"Well... no..."  
  
"C'mon! We're going to take you away from the humans!" Timon whispered, walking over to the door and gripping the lever. He gritted his teeth and pushed on it, trying to budge it. "They won't hurt you anymore."  
  
"They don't hurt me," Chelsea replied, coming over to the edge of the cage and watching as he struggled to get it open. "They take care of me."  
  
Timon stopped and looked at her, his eyes narrowed. "Take care of you? Chelsea, I think you have been cooped up too long. I don't think you are functioning correctly."  
  
"No, I'm fine," she chirped. "And they do take good care of me. They feed me and play with me. They let me out sometimes and run around."  
  
Timon stared at her, confused. "Then, why do they put you in a cage?"  
  
"To keep things from getting me," she replied and then shrugged, "I guess." She took a step toward him and reached through the bars, patting his shoulder. "Thank you for coming back for me, but I'll be okay."  
  
"Chelsea..."  
  
"Outside isn't for me."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
Chelsea gave a smile and nodded. "Yes, I am."  
  
Timon pulled away from the door and took a few steps back, gazing at her sadly. He returned her smile weakly and was about to turn to walk away, when he caught something in the corner of his eye. Spinning, he gasped when a hand came down on him, wrapping around him and picking him up.  
  
"Timon!" Pumbaa shouted, and Timon looked over at him, watching as the warthog was snagged by a rope on the end of a stick. Pumbaa shook his head violently, trying to shake free the trap, but the girl human held onto the pole tightly.  
  
Timon turned to look into the face of the man, watching him with wide eyes. He opened his mouth to bite him, but the human quickly changed his hold, gripping him securely by the back of his neck. Timon grunted as he was held up just by the patch of skin and felt himself being carried across the tent. He tried to struggle, knowing that he had to get away to save his friend, but felt hopeless.  
  
They couldn't defeat humans.  
  
Then suddenly, he felt dirt underneath his paws and the grip on his neck was released. He stumbled forward a little and looked around, finding himself outside the tent. He turned around and watched as the human stood up and stared down at him. He made a fanning motion with his hand, encouraging him to go, and Timon furrowed his brow, confused by these change of events. Then he noticed Pumbaa being guided out as well. The girl leaned down and carefully released the rope, freeing Pumbaa, and the warthog didn't waste a second before he was at Timon's side.  
  
"They are letting us go?" Pumbaa asked.  
  
"Don't argue," Timon replied, turning and jumping onto his back. "Let's just get out of here."  
  
He watched the two creatures scurry off into the night with a funny smile, shaking his head and laughing, "And here we thought we were saving the meerkat from the warthog."  
  
The woman next to him smiled and spoke up, "Well, after everything we did for him, he still tried to come back and eat my ferret." She placed her hands on her hips and added, "How ungrateful, huh?"  
  
"I just can't believe a meerkat would hang out with a warthog like that. I mean, in nature, it doesn't work."  
  
"Well, I hang out with YOU, don't I?" she joked. She turned toward the tent and jerked her head toward it. "C'mon. Let's get some sleep before we go take more pictures tomorrow. I'm beat."  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Okay."  
  
The End.  
  
Note: Okay, so I rushed through this one. I wasn't really 'into' this story like my first, so I was desperate to get it done. I have had an idea for a new one for a while now and I have been eager to get it started. So be kind when reviewing this one. *grin* 


End file.
